Women and Religion in Classical India: From Commoner to Queen, Courtesan and Nun

Course Description

Classical Indian religious law books present a rather grim view of the options of women. Famously, for example, they declare that women can have no independence?religious, legal or otherwise. As girls, they are under the authority of their fathers; as wives, the authority of the husbands; and as widows, that of their sons. The seminar will look at a variety of other sources?Buddhist and Jain texts and stories, classical Indian plays and literature, and, importantly, a range of inscriptions which record the behavior of actual Indian women?to see if this view was anything more than theory. Enrollment limited to 20 first year students. FYS

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